NFHS Equipment Checks

[Manny A]

We had a recent discussion with a HS team's coach reference pre-game bat and helmet checks. When my partner (PU) and I went over to do them, the team had their bats and helmets on these neat little individual, numbered hooks that hung on the inside dugout fencing:



My partner informed the coach that the helmets and bats were to be set up on the outside of the fence so that we didn't have to walk into the dugout to do our checks. The coach responded that in previous games, the umpires had no problems checking the bats where they were.

He subsequently tried to find a reference somewhere that stipulated bats and helmets had to be outside the dugouts for pre-game checks, but came up empty. I haven't found anything either. Is there some edict somewhere, perhaps an NFHS clarification that was put out, on this? For those of you in the group who are from Virginia, was there anything put out by VHSL in a coach's clinic perhaps?